Lesson Overview This lesson will explore the theory of plate tectonics. It will explain what plates are, what the plate tectonic theory is, and it will all be related back to the structure of the earth.
Objectives 1. Students will be able to summarize the theory of plate tectonics. 2. Students will be able to connect the plate tectonic theory to the structure of the earth. 3. Students will compare the cracked shell of the egg to the lithosphere.
Materials Computer to show the video Paper and pencils A few hard-boiled eggs Map activity sheet
Post the title of the lesson: What is a plate? (put answer in your notebook)
At this time the teacher will do attendance
Post activity for start of the class:How is a hard-boiled egg like the earth? Students will observe pre-cracked eggs in groups of four
Hard-boiled eggs will be available for each group of 4.
Make observations about the egg and write them in their notebook.
What does the shell look like?
What could the shell represent in what you learned about the earth’s structure?
How is a hard-boiled egg similar to the earth?
How is a hard-boiled egg not like the earth?
Students will be asked to put the egg information aside for now, but we will revisit it later. We will then quickly review the information about the structure of the earth that was learned the day before, and generate more questions if necessary. (10 min)
Learning Activities Students will watch a movie about how the earth was formed. This video will let the students relate the formation to the structure of the earth. The video will also explain how the plate tectonics shape the earth itself. The video also doubles as a frontloading exercise for other future lessons that will be covered in this unit. Students will be asked to focus on a few questions during the movie:
How do scientists know there are plates?
What happens as plates move?
Generate at least one question not answered by the movie
(10 minutes) The teacher will lead a discussion about the video. Students will be encouraged to make observation about the video, and ask questions.
Does anyone know what the Greek word tekton means?
What are plates?
How were the landforms created that we saw in the video?
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
What is a scientific theory?
How do the plates relate to the observations we made about the egg at the start of class?
Then students will take a few notes in their notebooks on slides with important terminology in their notebooks. (15 minutes)
Map Activity Now that we know that plates move we need to answer more questions.
What direction do plates move?
Do all of the plates move in the same direction?
Now we will pair off and work at an exercise at interpreting maps. The map is on page 33 of the Prentice Hall Science Explorer, Inside Earth. The teacher will walk around the room while the students are working to informally assess if the students are correctly interpreting the maps and understanding the plate movement concept. (10 minutes)
Closing Let’s go back to the egg that we examined at the beginning of class.
What does the shell represent?
How is it’s structure similar to the earth?
How does this relate to plate tectonics?
Lead a discussion to sum up what we learned today in relation to the structure of the earth. At this time if more questions are generated we can add them to the overhead/power point depending on the classroom.
Can someone summarize the meaning of the plate tectonic theory in his/her own words?
Can you connect what we have learned about the structure of the earth to the theory of plate tectonics?
Interpreting what we saw about plate movement in the map activity can you explain how different landforms that we saw in the video were formed?
Any students who did not finish the map activity should do so for homework. The activity will be collected tomorrow at the start of class. (10 min)
Assessment Students will be informally assessed during the map activity. The teacher should take note of any misconceptions or common areas of difficulty with the material and address them during the closing discussion.
Homework Students will complete the map interpretation activity for homework if they did not complete it in class.
Additional Notes Misconceptions
The layer beneath the earth moves in only one direction
The layer beneath the earth’s plates consists mostly of a combination of liquid and solid rock.
Earth’s plates do not move
The edge of a continent is the same as a plate boundary
Unit: Plate Tectonics
Title: What is a plate?
Lesson Overview
This lesson will explore the theory of plate tectonics. It will explain what plates are, what the plate tectonic theory is, and it will all be related back to the structure of the earth.
Objectives
1. Students will be able to summarize the theory of plate tectonics.
2. Students will be able to connect the plate tectonic theory to the structure of the earth.
3. Students will compare the cracked shell of the egg to the lithosphere.
Materials
Computer to show the video
Paper and pencils
A few hard-boiled eggs
Map activity sheet
Power point slides
Links to Resources
Movie about plate tectonics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsZq1pNufNg
Safety Issues
Instruction
Opening
On the board:
Post the title of the lesson: What is a plate? (put answer in your notebook)
- At this time the teacher will do attendance
Post activity for start of the class: How is a hard-boiled egg like the earth? Students will observe pre-cracked eggs in groups of fourStudents will be asked to put the egg information aside for now, but we will revisit it later. We will then quickly review the information about the structure of the earth that was learned the day before, and generate more questions if necessary.
(10 min)
Learning Activities
Students will watch a movie about how the earth was formed. This video will let the students relate the formation to the structure of the earth. The video will also explain how the plate tectonics shape the earth itself. The video also doubles as a frontloading exercise for other future lessons that will be covered in this unit.
Students will be asked to focus on a few questions during the movie:
(10 minutes)
The teacher will lead a discussion about the video. Students will be encouraged to make observation about the video, and ask questions.
- Does anyone know what the Greek word tekton means?
- What are plates?
- How were the landforms created that we saw in the video?
- What is the theory of plate tectonics?
- What is a scientific theory?
- How do the plates relate to the observations we made about the egg at the start of class?
Then students will take a few notes in their notebooks on slides with important terminology in their notebooks.(15 minutes)
Map Activity
Now that we know that plates move we need to answer more questions.
- What direction do plates move?
- Do all of the plates move in the same direction?
Now we will pair off and work at an exercise at interpreting maps. The map is on page 33 of the Prentice Hall Science Explorer, Inside Earth. The teacher will walk around the room while the students are working to informally assess if the students are correctly interpreting the maps and understanding the plate movement concept.(10 minutes)
Closing
Let’s go back to the egg that we examined at the beginning of class.
- What does the shell represent?
- How is it’s structure similar to the earth?
- How does this relate to plate tectonics?
Lead a discussion to sum up what we learned today in relation to the structure of the earth. At this time if more questions are generated we can add them to the overhead/power point depending on the classroom.- Can someone summarize the meaning of the plate tectonic theory in his/her own words?
- Can you connect what we have learned about the structure of the earth to the theory of plate tectonics?
- Interpreting what we saw about plate movement in the map activity can you explain how different landforms that we saw in the video were formed?
Any students who did not finish the map activity should do so for homework. The activity will be collected tomorrow at the start of class.(10 min)
Assessment
Students will be informally assessed during the map activity. The teacher should take note of any misconceptions or common areas of difficulty with the material and address them during the closing discussion.
Homework
Students will complete the map interpretation activity for homework if they did not complete it in class.
Additional Notes
Misconceptions